Saturday, January 29, 2011

The French take their comics seriously

The French have an interesting sense of humor. We know they love Jerry Lewis and think his films are a stitch. In 1965 French film critics bestowed the honor of film of the year on Lewis' "The Nutty Professor".

While I might have some issues with that decision, I do not disagree with the French assertion that comics (comic strips, editorial cartoons, graphic novels) are a serious art form. (GW)

Quai d'Orsay's comic-book hero tickles French fancy

Satirical graphic novel based on former PM Dominique de Villepin has become surprise French literary hit

A silver-haired aristocrat thunders through the palatial offices of the French foreign ministry quoting Greek philosophers and demanding his speech-writers pepper their efforts with poetry. The fictional eccentric, Alexandre Taillard de Vorms, is France's least likely comic-book hero.

But he is the star of a satirical graphic novel based on the former French prime minister and foreign policy supremo, Dominique de Villepin, which has become a surprise French literary hit, tipped for the top prizes at this weekend's prestigious Angoulême International Comics festival in western France.

Quai d'Orsay, named after the Paris foreign office, is to the French comics world what Armando Iannucci's The Thick of It is to British television. Created by a former speech-writer to de Villepin, it is a scathing dissection not only of a foreign minister who writes lyrical poetry and loves Napoleon, but also of the toadying French elite and ultra-competitive officials who gravitate in his orbit. The real de Villepin, who recently set up his own party to attack his long-term rival, president Nicolas Sarkozy, has paradoxically seen his image boosted by the bizarre antics of his comic alter-ego. "Flamboyant to the point of madness, Dominique de Villepin is the perfect cartoon hero," gushed the right-leaning Le Figaro.

France has a long tradition of satirical cartoons and caricature. There has been a flood of slapstick comic-book parodies of Nicolas Sarkozy in recent years. But Quai d'Orsay stands apart in its critical acclaim as a work of art. French "bande desineé" is seen as a deeply serious art-form and Quai d'Orsay has stunned the exacting critics. The magazine Telerama likened its "portrait of the times" to Molière. The award-winning book has sold more than 80,000 copies after several reprints. A film-adaptation is being considered. The book tells the story of a stressed and terrified young speech-writer trying to keep up with the verbose and intellectual foreign minister. De Villepin's prosaic speeches were notorious. A sequel volume to be published this year will focus on his acclaimed UN speech against the war in Iraq.

Abel Lanzac, the real-life speech writer, joined forces with the acclaimed illustrator Christophe Blain to create the book. Blain described how they would meet in a cafe to describe life at the ministry. "Abel brought it all to life in front of me: a complex individual, both fascinating and odious," he told the culture magazine Les Inrocks. De Villepin has yet to comment. But his rival Sarkozy, who recently tried to boost his poor cultural credentials by discussing his love of Hitchcock and Elia Kazan, can only hope someone in the inner circle at the Elysée breaks ranks and immortalises him in pen and ink.